HAWAII AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
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CLARK, Joseph G. Lights
and Shadows of Sailor Life, as Exemplified in Fifteen Years’ Experience,
Including the More Thrilling Events of the U. S. Exploring Expedition and
Reminiscences of an Eventful Life on the “Mountain Wave.” Small octavo. Pp.
xii, [13]-324. Illustrated with 6 engraved plates, including frontis; index.
Original embossed cloth, spine lettered and decorated in gilt. Some minor
spotting or light fading to covers, but an exceptional copy. Boston: Benjamin B.
Mussey & Co., 1848. $750.
Second and preferred edition, first published in 1847 with the
same collation but without any plates. “Clark was a seaman on the United States
Exploring Expedition, commanded by Captain Charles Wilkes. During the stop in
the Fiji Islands, Clark was nearly murdered by the islanders; two men on the
expedition did lose their lives in the attack. Clark gives descriptions of the
Columbia River Valley and of San Francisco and surrounding areas; he praises the
abundance and fertility of California’s natural resources. Hawaii was visited
twice. A report of the wreck of the U.S.S. Peacock is given” (Hill). Also
includes information on Wilkes Land, Antarctica. “Chapters on the Sandwich
Islands and on the Pacific Coast” (Howes). [Cowan: p.127; Forbes,
Hawaii:
1631; Haskel: 113; Hill 2: 299; Howes I: C-442; Howes II: C-448; Sabin: 13322].
GARNIER, Jules. Voyage
Autour du Monde. Oceanie les iles des pins, Loyalty et Tahiti. 12mo. [4],
388pp. Large folding map, 4 engraved plates. Original printed wraps, covers and
spine laid down onto stiffer blue card stock, with some bleeding of blue color.
Some dampstaining, generally faint, to fore and top edges, wrappers generally
stained or darkened, small label to front cover, map with cellophane
reinforcement at portion of two folds. A very good, complete copy. Paris: Henri
Plon, 1871. $300.
First edition. Garnier was a young mineral explorer sent to
New Caledonia in 1863-66, and provides invaluable first person commentary on
Oceanic culture during the period. The folding color map shows Tahiti and Moorea
with an abundance of place names. [Not noted by Hill].
SOLD GIBBINGS, Robert. The 7th
Man. A True Cannibal Tale of the
South Sea Islands. Small octavo. [4],
15pp. plus colophon leaf. 15 woodcuts by Robert Gibbings. Patterned paper boards
printed in red and white, yellow cloth spine, gilt. Slight offsetting to
endpapers from publisher’s glue. A very fine copy. (Waltham Saint Lawrence,
Berkshire): The Golden Cockerel Press, 1930.
First edition. Number 86 of 500 copies. Very scarce. Robert
Gibbings (1889-1958), was an Irish naturalist and artist who spent some time
visiting the South Seas. Gibbings was director of the Golden Cockerel Press from
1924-1933. This tale, like many of the books produced by the Press during this
period, served as a vehicle to showcase Gibbings’ beautiful woodcut engravings.
[Hill 2: 698]
SOLD [HAWAII].
Alexander, W. D. History of the Later Years of the Hawaiian Monarchy
... and the Revolution of 1893. Oblong octavo (6½ x 9½ inches). [10], 239pp.
Illustrated throughout with 23 photographic plates and portraits, and numerous
illustrated advertisements. Original red cloth stamped with black rules,
lettered and decorated in gilt on front cover and spine. Upper corner of front
cover lightly jammed, tiny scratch to front cover, lower corners just slightly
showing. A fine, tight and clean copy of a work rarely found in this condition.
(Honolulu: Hawaiian Gazette Co., 1896).
First edition. A popular but surprisingly scarce history with
an obvious slant, despite the author’s claim of “a clear and dispassionate
history of the Revolution of 1893 and of the events that led up to it.” Part I
covers “The Decadence of Hawaiian Monarchy,” Part II deals with “Under the
Provisional Government,” and Part III covers a “History of the Insurrection of
January, 1895” by Mr. W.R. Farrington. The profusion of full-page illustrated
advertisements for Hawaiian businesses are printed in tones of blue, black, or
sepia. Businesses advertiseing includeWilder’s Steamship Co.; Thomas G. Thrum;
the Oceanic Steamship Co.; Hawaiian Electric Co.; Castle & Cooke; The Hawaiian
News; the Honolulu Fire Department; Pacific Hardware; Oahu Railway and Land Co.;
California Feed Company.; Hawaiian Fertilizing Co., and many others. “An
indispensable work on this most volatile period of Hawaiian history, written by
a first hand observer” (Forbes). [Forbes: 4721].
SOLD [HAWAII].
Anderson, Mary E. Scenes in the
Hawaiian Islands and California.
16mo. Pp. viii, [1], 10-238. Frontispiece printed in color, 7 plates, 2 text
illustrations. Original patterned rose cloth, gilt lettering on spine. Slight
rubbing to extremities, lower corners just showing, spine ends show very slight
wear. A very good, clean copy. Boston: The American Tract Society, (1865).
First edition. Presentation inscription, signed and
dated (May 1, 1865) by the author. The first four chapters deal with
Mary’s travels from New York to Panama, to San Francisco, and on to Honolulu.
The last few chapters deal with her voyage back to San Francisco, time spent in
California, and home to New York. During their visit the Andersons traveled
throughout the Islands, visiting most of the mission stations and points of
interest including the site of Cook’s death at Kealakekua, the nearby city of
Refuge, and Kilauea volcano. The author was the daughter of Rev. Rufus Anderson,
a missionary and author. [Cowan: p.15; Forbes: 2612; Hunnewell: p.20; Sabin:
1413].
Rare Hawaiian
missionary imprint
SOLD [HAWAII].
Armstrong, Richard and S. Dibble. Ka Wehewehehala, oia hoi ka
Hulikanaka. Na Limaikaika i kakau na laua me Dibela e hooponopono hou.
[The remission of sins, that is, the moral philosophy]. 16mo. 208pp.
Original marbled boards, leather spine. Light pencilled notation to front
flyleaf. Small ownership stamp on title page. Leather spine professionally
renewed. A fine and clean copy throughout. Honolulu, Oahu: Mea Pai Palapala a na
Misionari [Missionary Press], 1847.
First revised edition, first issue. Printed entirely in the
Hawaiian language. This very scarce Hawaiian imprint was printed and published
by the Missionary Printing Press in Honolulu. Includes a small ownership stamp
of Hawaiian missionary C. M. Hyde (1870’s-1880’s) on the title page. Translated
by Rev. Richard Armstrong, nearly finished by Rev. Sheldon Dibble, and revised
again by Armstrong, this scarce missionary imprint was an abridgement and
adaptation of Francis Wayland’s Elements of Moral Science (c.1835). The
first Hawaiian language edition was published in Honolulu and Lahainaluna in
1841. Printing of the first revised edition (offered here) began in 1845 with a
planned run of 5,000 copies. However, the run was not completed and the
remaining sheets were later re-issued with a new title page but without a date.
Forbes notes that although the title page of the later issue was not dated, the
printing of the new title page resembles Hawaiian printing done in the late
1850’s. A rare work of moral philosophy in the Hawaiian language. [Forbes: 1656;
Hunnewell: p.22].
SOLD [HAWAII].
Bingham, Hiram. Bartimeus, of the
Sandwich Islands.
16mo. Pp. 58, 1-3 [ads], [1, blank]. Frontis engraved portrait of Bartimeus.
Original embossed dark brown cloth, gilt-lettered spine. Very light penciled
inscription to endpaper, light wear to spine ends, much less so to lower
corners, two leaves lightly spotted, small ink number stamped on lower blank
border of contents page. Overall, a fine copy of this fragile little book. New
York: American Tract Society, n.d. (c.1845).
First edition. Scarce thus. The author was one of the earliest
missionaries to the Islands, arriving in Honolulu in 1820, and remaining in the
Islands for the next 21 years. This little book tells the story of Bartimeus, “a
noted Hawaiian Christian convert. Born at Waikapu, Maui, about 1785, he was a
noted hula performer” (Forbes). Bartimeus was not only a hula performer, but a
drummer for Hawaiian royalty prior to his evangelical conversion. Forbes
suggests that the printing date of this undated work was 1850, based on the fact
that it was first listed in the American Tract Society’s 1851 report, but
admitting that the book went through numerous editions. We suggest that the date
is closer to 1845, just after Bartimeus died (September 17, 1843). [Forbes:
1765; Hunnewell: p.26].
“Probably the best
work on the Sandwich Islands”
SOLD
[HAWAII].
Bingham, Hiram. A Residence of Twenty-One Years in the
Sandwich Islands; or the Civil, Religious, and
Political History of Those Islands: Comprising a Particular View of the
Missionary Operations Connected with the Introduction and Progress of
Christianity and Civilization Among the Hawaiian People.
Pp. xvi, [17]-616. Steel-engraved frontis portrait of the author, 6 full-page
wood-engraved plates, large folding map. Original blind-stamped dark brown
cloth, gilt-lettered spine. Original owner’s name and date on endpaper. Slight
wear to spine ends and corners, tiny puncture to center of spine. With those
exceptions, a fine, clean and bright copy, the best we have seen. Hartford:
Hezekiah Huntington, and New York: Sherman Converse, 1847.
First edition. An exceptional copy without the usual foxing.
Very scarce in this condition. Original owner’s signature and date on front
endpaper (“August 20, 1847”). “Bingham was ordained as a Congregational minister
in 1819 at Goshen, Connecticut, at the same time as his fellow missionary, Asa
Thurston. The newly-married Bingham and his wife, Sybil Moseley Bingham,
accompanied by Thurston and his wife… arrived in Honolulu in 1820, and spent the
next 21 years in missionary work. The Binghams soon learned to speak Hawaiian,
and worked with their fellow missionaries to create a written Hawaiian language.
Together with the Rev. William Ellis, Bingham printed the first Hawaiian book, a
hymnal, in 1823. With his associates, Bingham also translated the Bible into
Hawaiian. The Hawaiian King and Queen supported Bingham’s missionary work, and
he was able to travel extensively throughout the islands, collecting the
impressions which appeared in this book, which was written after he finally left
for the United States in 1840” (Hill). There were additional Hartford editions
in 1848 and 1849 and another one published at Canandaigua, New York, in 1855.
“The most important book on the history of the American Protestant mission in
Hawaii during the years 1820-1840, and one of the key books of Hawaiian history”
(Forbes). “Probably the best work on the Sandwich Islands” (Sabin). [Forbes:
1630; Hill 2: 127; Hunnewell: p.26; Sabin: 5432].
“Classic narrative of
a visit to Hawaii”
SOLD [HAWAII].
Cheever, Henry T. The Island World of the Pacific: Being the personal
narrative and results of travel through the Sandwich or Hawaiian Islands, and
other parts of Polynesia. 12mo. Pp. [2], 10, [2], ix-xii, [13]-406, 12
(ads). Frontis view, additional wood engraved title, folding map, single-page
map, 16 wood engraved plates. Original patterned blue cloth, gilt-lettered
spine, gilt pictorial device on front cover. Owner’s name and date on
illustrated title, title and half title. Lower front corner with light wear,
spine ends with minimal rubbing, scattered light foxing, but an excellent copy.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851.
First edition. “This is a classic narrative of a visit to
Hawaii by an ordained minister on a voyage for reasons of health. Cheever
arrived at Honolulu from New York via Cape Horn, May 9, 1843. The Hawaiian text
commences with a description of Honolulu and its environs. Cheever recounts
visits to the waterfront markets, the missionary compound, Kawaiahao Church, the
Chiefs’ Children’s School, and Punahou… The narrative portions of the text are
interspersed with chapters on historical subjects such as the death of Captain
Cook, the arrival of the missionaries, the Laplace affair, the French ‘outrage’
of 1849, the ‘embassy’ of Haalilio and Richards to Europe, and naturally much on
missionary work. Cheever made a trip to the island of Hawaii, with a stop at
Maui. He describes Lahaina and (briefly) Lahainaluna. His extensive description
of Kohala makes this narrative an important reference” (Forbes). The author also
visited Kailua, Kona, etc. Boarding with the Thurstons, he provides a keen
description of their home life. He also devotes 20 pages to a description of the
volcano of Kilauea and the surrounding vicinity. The appendix contains a
“Statistical view of the Resources, Trade, Commerce… of the Hawaiian Islands.”
This copy includes the dated signature of a contemporary owner, “Franklin
B. Austin / San Francisco, Oct., 1853.” Franklin B. Austin was President of the
New York Mining Company and sailed for San Francisco in February of 1849
on the ship Strafford, arriving in San Francisco in August of the same
year. [Forbes: 1801; Hunnewell: p.30].
Much on Hawaiian
surfing at Lahaina
SOLD [HAWAII].
Cheever, Henry T. Life in the
Sandwich Islands: or, The Heart of the Pacific, as
it was and is. 12mo. 355pp.
Frontispiece view, additional engraved title, map, four plates, 2 woodcut
vignette text illustration. Appendix. Original embossed crimson cloth, lettered
and decorated in gilt. Long early ownership inscription to front flyleaf, light
dampstain to upper gutter of final leaves, corner of rear free endpaper torn.
Covers shelfworn with tiny chips to spine ends, corners worn, general rubbing.
Generally clean internally with only a few occasional spots. A very good,
complete copy. New York & Cincinnati: A. S. Barnes & H. W. Derby, 1851.
First edition. “An engaging travel narrative about the
islands, in 1843, by a Protestant minister… After a prefatory chapter on Captain
Cook, Hawaiian customs, and religion, the author begins his tour of Hawaii at
Kailua, Kona. He describes coffee farms at Kealakekua, and examines the City of
Refuge at Honaunau, comparing his observations with an earlier description made
by William Ellis… Cheever made a thorough tour of Maui. He gives a long
description of Lahaina… at central Maui, he inspected the Wailuku Girls School
and includes remarks on female education… one chapter is on Bartimeus, the
famous blind Hawaiian preacher of Wailuku… In a chapter on Hawaiian literature
(pp. 221-243), the author provides a list of works translated, remarks on
Hawaiian fashions of letter writing, and prints an English translation of a
mele by Ke-Kupuohi on the Creation” (Forbes). “Much interesting data is
included on the history and native culture of the islands. Missionary endeavor
in Hawaii is also a favorite topic. Cheever was fascinated by the Hawaiian
surfers at Lahaina on Maui (this volume contains one of the first illustrations
of this pastime), and chapters are devoted to the first Hawaiian college and to
Hawaiian literature. Cheever predicted eventual American rule of the islands
because fifty American missionary families had settled there and owned extensive
lands” (Hill). The front cover includes a gilt pictorial vignette of a
missionary preaching to seated natives under a large tree. The appendix provides
a great deal of statistical information. [Forbes: 1803; Hill 2: 287].
The first book written
about the Hawaiian Islands
SOLD [HAWAII].
Ellis, William. Narrative of a Tour through
Hawaii, or, Owhyhee; with Remarks on the History,
Traditions, Manners Customs, & Language of the Inhabitants of the Sandwich
Islands. Pp. [10], 3-442. Folding
frontis map, 7 engraved plates. Newly bound in tan boards, brown silk cloth
spine, gilt-lettered leather spine label. Slight darkening to blank borders of
plates, but an exceptional copy, very fine, tall, and untrimmed! London: H.
Fisher, Son, and P. Jackson, 1826.
First edition. Rare, especially in this condition. Ellis was
an early Protestant missionary to the Polynesian Islands, especially in the
Society and Hawaiian Islands. This Narrative is “particularly important, as it
was the first book written about the Hawaiian Islands and the first serious
notice of the Islands since Captain Cook’s discovery of them forty-eight years
earlier. It may be called the scientific book on Hawaii: although its main
purpose was to report on mission progress, and Ellis was primarily interested in
local manners and traditions, he was sufficiently expansive to include
observations on such natural and cultural topics as volcanoes, antiquities, and
the anthropology of the Islands… the book became quite popular almost
immediately. The poet Coleridge is reported to have stated that he considered
Ellis’s Narrative of a Tour Through Hawaii to be the most interesting and
instructive book of travel that he had ever read. Ellis is also remembered for
setting up the first printing press in the South Seas. In 1823, while he was
still in Hawaii, Ellis and American missionary Hiram Bingham printed the first
Hawaiian book, a hymnal” (Hill). The appendix contains, “Remarks on the Hawaiian
language.” “Due to his long service in Tahiti and fluency in that language,
[Ellis] was of great assistance to the Hawaiian Mission… [and] was able to give
a more accurate narrative of the traditions and customs of the Hawaiian people”
(Forbes). The large folding map is titled, “Map of Hawaii, the Largest of the
Sandwich Islands; Improved from Vancouver’s Survey.” [Forbes: 634; Hill 2 :
545].
With the rare albumen
photograph of Kamehameha V
SOLD [HAWAII].
Jarves, James Jackson. History of the
Hawaiian Islands: Embracing their Antiquities,
Mythology, Discovery by Europeans in the Sixteenth Century, Re-Discovery by
Cook, with Their Civil, Religious and Political History, from the Earliest
Traditionary Period to the Year 1846.
Pp. iv, [5]-242, [18, ads]. Large albumen photograph frontis. Map and text
illustrations. Collated complete. Original three-quarter black leather, gray
pebbled cloth sides, gilt-lettered spine, pink endpapers. Previous owner’s name
stamped to blank portion of a few leaves. Spine ends chipped, corners lightly
worn or rubbed, crease to frontis photograph, else an excellent copy. Honolulu:
Henry M. Whitney, 1872.
Fourth and best edition, revised. This is the second Hawaiian
edition with the rare albumen photograph of Kamehameha V, King of the Hawaiian
Islands (earlier editions did not have the photograph). “All copies (of the
fourth edition) have the frontispiece leaf with a rule border and title printed
below, and most but not all copies have the actual photograph added… there
appears to have been a remainder issue of this work put on sale by Thrum in the
late 1880’s. These copies all have the frontispiece leaf but lack the albumen
portrait of Kamehameha V, for which the leaf was designed. They also seem always
to lack the leaves with advertisements…” (Forbes). The appendix, with detailed
statistics, is by the pioneer commercial printer and publisher Henry Martyn
Whitney. Whitney’s appendix presents a résumé of present conditions in the
Islands, including statistics on population, agriculture, commerce, etc. Whitney
also provides much on the Hawaiian volcanoes. The last eighteen pages, as well
as the rear endpapers provide advertisements for a number of local businesses.
The author arrived in Oahu in 1837. He founded and edited the Polynesian,
the first newspaper published in the Hawaiian Islands. [Forbes: 2957; Hill:
noting only the first edition].
Signed by the
Territorial Governor of Hawaii
SOLD
[HAWAII].
Judd, Laura Fish. Honolulu.
Sketches of the Life, Social, Political and Religious in the Hawaiian Islands
from 1828 to 1861. xii, 209pp. Frontis
portrait. Appendices, index. Red buckram stamped in gilt on spine and front
cover. Mild darkening to gutter margins of endpapers from publisher’s glue,
first 3 leaves with light foxing, else a fine copy with very good pictorial dust
jacket (jacket slightly chipped and soiled). Honolulu: The Honolulu
Star-Bulletin, 1928.
Reprinted from the original edition by the families of Gerrit
and Laura Judd’s children to celebrate the centenary of the Judd’s arrival in
Hawaii on March 31, 1828. Includes a supplementary sketch of events to 1880.
Presentation inscription, signed to Major General William Lassiter
from Laurence M. Judd, dated 1931. Lawrence McCully Judd (1887-1968) was born in
Honolulu, the grandson of Gerrit P. Judd and the author. He was the seventh
Territorial Governor of Hawaii (1929-1934).
Devoted to the
Hansen’s Disease-afflicted
residents of Kalaupapa on Molokai,
having made several fact-finding tours during his tenure in the Hawaii
State Senate and having overhauled the system of
governance in the leper colony as Territorial
Governor, Judd became Kalaupapa’s resident
superintendent in 1947. He temporarily served
as Territorial Governor of American Samoa from
March 4 to August 4,
1953. Major General William Lassiter was the
Commander of the Hawaiian Department of the U.S. Army Pacific Command,
1930-1931.
SOLD [HAWAII].
Kenyon, Brewster C. History of the Postal Issues of
Hawaii. A List of the Adhesive Postage Stamps,
Stamped Envelopes and Postal Cards of the Hawaiian Government.
26pp. plus Frontispiece portrait of the author, 8 plates, text illustrations.
Original tan wrappers printed in black. Contemporary owner’s name and date
neatly penciled at top of endpaper, light wear or slight chipping to spine ends
and corners. Overall, a fine copy. (Long Beach, California): Brewster C. Kenyon,
1895.
First edition. An extremely scarce and invaluable philatelic
reference, complete with the errata slip tipped-in at title page. Only eight
copies located by OCLC (Online Library Computer Center); no copies at auction in
the last 35 years. [Not noted by Forbes].
SOLD
[HAWAII].
Marshall, W. P. Afloat on the Pacific, or Notes of Three Years Life at
Sea, Comprising Sketches of People, Places, and Things along the
Pacific Coast and among the Islands of Polynesia,
Visited During Several Voyages of the U.S.S. Lancaster and Saranac.
12mo. Pp. viii, [9]-176pp. Illustrated with 3 plates (including frontis) and a
wood engraving in the text. Original brick cloth stamped in blind with black
rules, gilt-lettered spine, beveled edges. Light wear to upper front corner,
spine slightly darkened. A fine and clean copy. Zanesville, Ohio: Sullivan &
Parsons, 1876.
First edition, complete with the pink errata slip at the rear.
This book was printed in limited numbers, in an out-of-the-way place and is
quite scarce. “The author was part of a naval detachment that departed from New
York in October 1864, on the USS Saranac to join the Pacific Squadron. At
Acapulco in July 1865,they learned of the ‘depredations being committed by the
[Confederate] Rebel Cruiser Shenandoah, among the whaling vessels in the
north Pacific… The Shenandoah successfully eluded them” (Forbes). The
Saranac anchored at Honolulu on September 6, 1865. “Following a visit to the
Marquesas and Tahiti, the ship made a second visit to Hawaii in October 1865…
Marshall describes Honolulu and again Nuuanu Valley at greater length. This
portion of the text also mentions native horsemanship, and has comments on
Kamehameha V and Rev. Samuel C. Damon” (Forbes). “Marshall served aboard
American men-of-war from 1864 through 1867, and was involved at one time in the
search for the Shenandoah. He visited Hawaii, Tahiti, the Marquesas, and
the west coast of South America” (Hill). [Forbes: 3163; Hill 2: 1094].
[HAWAII].
Perkins, Edward T. Na Motu; or, Reef-Rovings in the
South Seas. A Narrative of Adventures at the
Hawaiian, Georgian and Society Islands.
Small octavo. Pp. xv, [16]-370. Illustrated with an additional tinted
lithographic title and 5 lithographed plates. Original patterned brown cloth,
spine lettered and decorated in gilt. Some occasional faint spots or stains,
spine very slightly faded, but a fine, tight copy in the original publisher’s
binding. New York: Garrett & Co., 1854. $500.
Second edition, issued the same year as the first, though by a
different publisher and somewhat condensed. “An important and lively narrative
of life in Hawaii between 1849 and 1851” (Forbes). “In 1848 Perkins sailed on
the Planet, an American whaling ship, to Hawaii, where he lived for
nearly two years. He later spent considerable time on Bora Bora, Raiatea, and
Tahiti, in the Society Islands. Perkins gives interesting data on whaling as
well as on the islands he visited” (Hill). Includes much information on the
Islands, the missionaries, etc. [Forbes: 2046; Hill 2: 1325].
A whaling voyage
classic
[JONES, G. D.]. Life and
Adventure in the South Pacific. By a Roving Printer. 12mo. Pp. x, [11]-361,
10 (ads). Plates and text illustrations throughout, including a full-page map.
Original brown cloth, gilt-lettered spine. One gathering slightly sprung, stamp
erased from title and free endpaper, bookplate removed from front pastedown with
slight glue remnant, small circular label removed from lower spine with tiny
tear, joints and corners lightly rubbed. A very good copy. New York: Harper &
Brothers, 1861. $500.
First edition. “An account of a whaling voyage out of New
Bedford, Massachusetts, to the Pacific, and the day-to-day occupations of two
young men from Palmyra, New York, who shipped on the whaler for five years. This
narrative may have been written by John [sic] D. Jones, but conclusive evidence
is lacking. The ship visited many islands, among them Guam, the Hawaiian
Islands, Tonga, Juan Fernandez, and Formosa” [Hill]. The identity of the two men
has never been precisely determined, though one of them is supposed to have the
surname of Jones. All bibliographies (except Hill) state the probable author as
“G. D. Jones.” Hill states the author as “John D. Jones,” probably incorrectly.
“An interesting whaling narrative… This whaling voyage classic has often been
catalogued as an account of the 1849 voyage of the Emily Morgan, but it
is in fact an account of a later voyage of that ship” (Forbes); the later voyage
was probably 1853. Much information on Lahaina (Maui), attacks on whaling ships
by natives, whales and whaling, etc. [Forbes: 2448; Hill 2: 1023; Howes I: 213;
Howes II: 209; Sabin: 36440].
KLOTZ, Otto. The
South Seas.
24pp. 2 plates, large folding map at rear. Original green printed wrappers.
Slight repair of spine ends, some edge wear to fore-edge of wrappers. A very
good copy. Ottawa: December 9, 1904. $300.
First edition. An address delivered in Ottawa on December 9,
1904. Presentation inscription, signed by the “Author” to “Dr. C.
Georg”. Very scarce. Dr. Otto Julius Klotz (1852-1923) was the
first person to be officially designated
as astronomer in the Dominion of Canada. He worked on the British Columbia
Railway Belt Survey from 1885 to 1890, and was assigned the task to resolve the
United States and Canada boundary dispute during the 1890’s. Klotz also worked
on the Alaska boundary survey in 1893-1894. His other claim to fame includes the
oversight of the “All Red Cable Route” connecting Australia and Canada in 1902.
The “All Red Line” was an informal name for the cable system of
electrical telegraphs that linked all the British Empire. In his official
capacity, Dr. Klotz visited many Polynesian islands and begins his address
discussing the laying of the cable from Canada to the South Pacific islands, its
route, etc. He then discusses, at length, the various polynesian languages,
their similarities and their differences. The bulk of his address relates to his
visits to Fiji and New Zealand, discussing at length the flora and fauna of each
place, customs of the natives, their diet, daily habits, morals, etc. An
extremely obscure pamphlet. No copies at auction in 35 years; only 3 copies (on
microfilm) located via OCLC.
First effort of the
London Missionary Society
SOLD SMITH, Rev. William. Journal
of a voyage in the missionary ship Duff, to the Pacific Ocean in the years 1796,
7, 8, 9, 1800, 1, 2, &c: comprehending authentic and circumstantial narratives
of the disasters which attended the first effort of the “London Missionary
Society.” Interspersed with a variety of singular incidents and adventures…
16mo. iv, 288pp. Original dark brown calf, red leather spine label, gilt. Cover
generally rubbed (recently polished; looks good), hinges strong, two early
leather inlay repairs. Internally, front ends and title spotted, leaves a bit
darkened, but clean throughout. Lacking front and rear blank flyleaves, else
complete. A very good copy. New York: Collins and Co., 1813.
First edition. “The London Missionary Society was founded in
1795, intent upon missionary work in the Society, Tonga, Palau, Marquesas, and
Hawaiian Islands. The ship Duff was purchased and outfitted for the first
conveyance to the South Seas, and set sail under Captain James Wilson. The
Duff stopped at Rio de Janeiro, where the missionaries condemned the slave
trade. When they finally reached Tahiti, the company divided, some staying at
Tahiti, and some going to Tonga and the Marquesas. After difficulties with the
natives, most of the missionaries sailed to Australia, either to return home or
to wait for a more propitious time to resume their work on the islands. Very
thorough descriptions are given of Tahiti, Tonga, Australia, and New Zealand.
Smith was imprisoned for debt in Australia; he escaped, and describes his
privations while on the run. He was taken aboard the Royal Admiral,
commanded by the same James Wilson who had formerly captained the Duff,
and sailed to New Zealand and then to China, visiting Tahiti, Tonga, Samoa, and
the Mariana Islands. In China, they made port at Macao, Whampoa, and Canton. On
the return voyage to England, the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena were visited.
The Appendix describes Captain Wilson’s earlier trials in the wars in India and
the East Indies during the 1770’s and 1780’s” (Hill). [Hill 2: 1589; Sabin:
84700].
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